Bottlenose dolphin.

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Welcome to the latest issue of LMR News—

the newsletter from the Living Marine Resources

(LMR) program. Our goal is to provide you

with the latest information about program

operations, significant accomplishments and

future focus areas for the LMR program. We

hope you will find the content useful and

that it provides insights into our efforts

to improve our understanding of how

Navy at-sea training and testing activities

could affect marine species—their

occurrence in training areas and potential

exposure, response and consequences.

INSIDE THIS ISSUEProgram Office Insights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2In-progress Review 2019 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3LMR Project Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4LMR Program Participant Updates . . . . . . 6LMR Partnership Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Recent Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Program Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Welcome!

LMRnews

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WHO WE AREThe LMR program is one of the U.S. Navy’s applied research (6.4) programs,sponsored by the Chief of Naval Operations Energy and Environmental Readi-ness Division (OPNAV N45) and managed by the Naval Facilities CommandEngineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC) in PortHueneme, CA. The LMR program’s fundamental mission is to support theNavy’s ability to conduct uninterrupted training and testing, which preservecore Navy readiness capabilities. Our efforts to achieve that mission includeworking to improve the best available science regarding the potential impactsto marine species from Navy activities, demonstrating and validating projectsready for applied research, and broadening and improving the technologyand methods available to the U.S. Navy Marine Species Monitoring Program.

PROGRAM OFFICE INSIGHTSDuring this quarter we have been particularly focused on reviewing proposalsand engaging in partnerships that will enhance our work. In addition, weattended two valuable meetings with our colleagues in the other two Navymarine species programs—Navy Marine Species Monitoring Program andOffice of Naval Research Marine Mammal Biology (ONR MMB) program.

We in the LMR program office have been working with the LMRAdvisory Committee (LMRAC) and Technical Review Committeeexperts to review proposals resulting from our Fiscal Year 2019(FY19) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). As noted in our Win-ter 2019 issue of LMR News, the six needs listed in the BAA gener-ated significant interest and a breadth of responses. From thenumerous preproposals received, a subset were invited to submitfull proposals, which currently are in review. Following programreview and recommendation to N45, our program sponsor, selec-tions will be finalized.

In addition to LMR proposal reviews, we have participated inreviewing proposals to the Subcommittee on Ocean Science andTechnology (SOST). You can read more about SOST and thatreview process in our Partnership Updates section later in this issue.

LMR Deputy Program manager, Mandy Shoemaker, attended theU.S. Navy Marine Species Monitoring Program Atlantic Technical ReviewMeeting in Virginia Beach, Virginia. During this annual meeting, researcherson current Atlantic monitoring projects presented their 2018 progress.

Anu Kumar, Program Manager

Attendees include representatives from the Navy, National Marine FisheriesService and Marine Mammal Commission, all of whom participate in theadaptive management process of the U.S. Navy Marine Species MonitoringProgram. This meeting is a valuable opportunity to exchange informationregarding projects andneeds within the Navy’s at-sea compliance efforts andto discuss how LMR proj-ects can best transition toimplementation.

Both the LMR Programmanager, Anu Kumar, andMandy Shoemaker attendedthe ONR MMB program’srecent program review, heldin late April. Much like theLMR In-progress Review,principal investigators onONR MMB projects presentupdates on their work todate. This information helpsto identify which of theearly research efforts might be appropriate for the LMR’s validation/demon-stration process before becoming available for implementation by the MarineSpecies Monitoring Program.

This type of ongoing coordination among the Navy’s marine species programsis critical to promoting efficient use of limited resources to meet Navy needs.

And speaking of Navy needs, it is time for Navy personnel to submit proposedresearch needs. Anyone within the Navy may submit needs for considerationby the LMR program. For details on submitting needs, see the program web-site at navysustainability.dodlive.mil/lmr. The Needs submission deadline isJune 14, 2019.

IN-PROGRESS REVIEW 2019LMR principal investigators and LMRAC members are reminded to marktheir calendars for the 2019 IPR. It will be held the week of November 4thin Ventura, California. Email with specific details will be forthcoming.

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Pilot whales.Rune Roland Hansen, permit 2015/223222

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LMR PROJECT SPOTLIGHTWondering about some of the LMR-supported projects? This section providesa brief overview of one or more projects underway in the LMR program.

For this issue we present an overview of one our ongoing acoustic effectsprojects, which contribute critical data to Navy risk assessment criteria.

Frequency-dependent Growth and Recovery of Temporary ThresholdShift in Bottlenose DolphinsThe Navy continues to work to improve its acoustic impact assessments formarine species. The acoustic impact assessments apply auditory weightingfunctions, similar to those used in assessing risk to human hearing, to predictthe occurrence of temporary threshold shift (TTS) and permanent thresholdshift (PTS) as functions of frequency. Threshold shift is one of the few directmeasures of adverse effects of intense sound on hearing. The associatedweighting functions are mathe-matical functions that empha-size, or “weight,” noise atdifferent frequencies accordingto the listener’s susceptibility tonoise at that frequency. Directmeasurements of TTS in repre-sentative marine mammalspecies—across a broad spec-trum of sound frequencies—are needed to support theTTS/PTS thresholds andweighting function derivations.

Dr. James Finneran, a researchscientist at the Naval Informa-tion Warfare Center (NIWC)Pacific, is conducting this project to quantify the TTS thresholds and deriveweighting functions for bottlenose dolphins. The specific objectives of thiseffort are to

1. Determine exposure levels corresponding to the onset of TTS across a broadrange of frequencies in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)

2. Develop TTS recovery models for use in acoustic impact assessments and

3. Examine the relationship between TTS measured using behavioral methodsand auditory evoked potential (AEP) methods.

Bottlenose dolphins.Mark H. Deakos, permit 14451

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The project methodology includes measuring hearing thresholds in bot-tlenose dolphins using both behavioral methods (tracking a trained animal’sresponse to a sound) and noninvasive electrophysiological methods (measur-ing auditory evoked potentials, i.e., changes in brainwaves in response to asound). Researchers establish baseline hearing thresholds, then measurehearing thresholdsimmediately before andafter exposure to afatiguing noise to deter-mine any threshold shiftoccurrences. The studyfollows a protocolapproved by the Institu-tional Animal Care andUse Committee (IACUC)at NIWC Pacific, andsubject health, welfareand behavior are contin-uously monitored andmanaged by attendingveterinarians and ani-mal care staff.

Initial efforts entailedanimal training (torespond to sound cues), baseline hearing measurements and refining the TTSexposure protocols for the study. The project team then began collectinghigh-frequency TTS data. The team completed TTS testing with 80-kHz fatigu-ing noise with a single dolphin and 40-kHz fatiguing noise with two dol-phins. Maximum one-hour exposure levels were approximately 160-165 dBsound pressure levels (SPL), equivalent to approximately 196 to 201 dBsound exposure levels (SEL). Low- and mid-frequency data collection isplanned to begin later in the project.

The data resulting from this effort will be used to update the weighting func-tion and TTS/PTS threshold values for the mid-frequency cetacean group,validate the extrapolation procedures used to derive weighting functions andTTS/PTS thresholds for other species groups, develop practical models forrecovery from TTS and enable broad comparisons between behavioral- andAEP-based measures of TTS. This information is directly applicable to allNavy environmental compliance documents analyzing potential impactsfrom acoustic sound sources.

A dolphin positioned on an underwater “bite plate” during a noninvasive electrophysiological hearing test. Sound stimuli are presented to the dolphin and auditory brainstem responses are measured using surface electrodes embedded in suction cups placed on the dolphin’s head. Jim Finneran

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LMR PROGRAM PARTICIPANT UPDATESBoth Anu Kumar and Mandy Shoemaker attended the Naval Innovative Sci-ence and Engineering Technical Exchange Meeting (NISE TEM) in Port Huen-eme, CA. The NISE TEM brings together scientists and engineers from theNaval Research and Development community (the Navy's labs and warfarecenters) to share their work, learn aboutothers' work and create new networksfor future work. This offered the LMRprogram a great opportunity to learnabout the work going on at other Navylabs and warfare centers, and potentiallyfoster new collaboration. The great pre-sentations covered topics that includedunmanned aerial and underwater vehicletechnology, image processing, machinelearning, and artificial intelligence.

LMR PARTNERSHIP UPDATESLMR has embarked on an important newpartnership effort with the Subcommitteeon Ocean Science and Technology(SOST). The federal partners include theOffice of Naval Research, Chief of NavalOperations N45, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the MarineMammal Commission (MMC). The group issued a Broad Agency Announce-ment on mysticete hearing in July 2018. Projects funded under this SOST part-nership will be announced in the next newsletter.

RECENT PUBLICATIONSThis section includes recent publications and reports resulting from projectsthat are partially or fully funded by the LMR program. The information pro-vided in the publications is of significant value to the Navy’s at-sea environ-mental compliance process and directly feeds into the National EnvironmentalPolicy Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act com-pliance documentation.

Kastelein, R.A., Helder-Hoek, L. and Gransier, R. (2019). Frequency of greatesttemporary threshold shift in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) depends on thefatiguing sound level. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 145,1353-1362.

Orcas.Allen Shimada, NOAA/NMFS

Kastelein, R.A., Helder-Hoek, L., van Kester, R., Huisman, R. and Gransier, R.(2019). Temporary Hearing Threshold Shift in Harbor Porpoises (Phocoenaphocoena) Due to One-Sixth Octave Noise Band at 16 kHz. Aquatic Mammals45(3), 280-292.

Mooney, A.T., Smith, A., Larsen, O.N., Hansen, K.A., Wahlberg, M., Rasmussen,M.H. (2019). Field-based hearing measurements of two seabird species. Journalof Experimental Biology 222: jeb190710.

Southall, B. L., DeRuiter, S. L., Friedlaender, A., Stimpert, A. K., Goldbogen, J. A.,Hazen, E., Casey, C., Fregosi, S., Cade, D. E., Allen, A. N. et al. (2019). Behav-ioral responses of individual blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) to mid-fre-quency military sonar. Journal of Experimental Biology 222: jeb190637.

For lists of other publications, please see our annual program reports andrecent issues of LMR News.

OUR WEBSITE Keep an eye on our website for the soon-to-be-released 2018 LMR ProgramReport on the status of the LMR program. This annual document reviews theprogram’s mission and history and provides updates on LMR projects. If youare on the LMR News email list, you will be notified when the report is avail-able. The website address is navysustainability.dodlive.mil/LMR.

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navysustainability.dodlive.mil/LMR

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PROGRAM SCHEDULE

LMR ANNUAL REPORTWe are excited to announce that our 2018 Living MarineResources program report is now available online. Our annualreport provides an overview of the LMR program’s mission,history and structure, in addition to summarizing the status ofprojects that were completed, ongoing or newly started dur-ing 2018. The report also lists LMR-related publications thatbecame available in 2018.

A PDF of the report can be found under the “Annual Reports” tab on our website, or by following the link: navysustainability.dodlive.mil/lmryir/.

HELP WITH OUR MAILING LISTIf you want to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, LMR News,please send your email address to Lorraine Wass at ljwass@outlook.com.

CONTACT THE LMR PROGRAM For more information about the LMR program and its operations, contact AnuKumar, Program Manager, at exwc_lmr_program@navy.mil and 805-982-4853.

IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF LMR NEWSOur next issue will provide updates on proposal review process and infor-mation on the FY20 needs and pre-proposal requests.

No. What When

1. Proposal Solicitation & Reviewa. FY19 Full Proposals Review May, 2019b. FY20 Needs Submission Deadline June 14, 2019c. FY20 Needs Approved August, 2019

2. Project & Contracts Managementa. FY19 New Start Contracts September 30, 2019

3. Quarterly Status Reports (QSR)a. Submit summer QSR July 31, 2019b. Submit fall QSR October 31, 2019c. Submit winter QSR January 31, 2020d. Submit spring QSR April 30, 2020

LMR INVESTMENT AREASThe LMR program focuses its research funding in five investment areas:

1. Data to support risk threshold criteriaCollect data to improve the Navy’s acoustic and explosive impact assess-ments and validate mitigation requirements, information critical to theNavy’s environmental compliance and permitting process. This includesdata on how well animals can hear, how and when animals may beexposed to acoustic and explosive sources, and how animals respond orare affected when exposed. Projects in this area can include hearingstudies, sound exposure and behavioral response studies.

2. Data analysis and processing toolsMake required monitoring program data processing and analysis moreefficient and cost-effective. This includes developing tools to automate theprocessing of large amounts of data to reduce costs, increase efficiencyand provide consistency. These tools support the Navy’s environmentalcompliance process and permitting process. Projects in this area can in-clude new detection and classification algorithms, improvements to soft-ware programs, or development of novel analytical methods.

3. Monitoring technology demonstrationsContinue to develop and demonstrate technologies that can improve fielddata collection methods. The technologies enable efficient and cost-effec-tive implementation of the Navy’s Marine Species Monitoring program.Examples include new monitoring technologies and platforms, includingsensors, tags, moored devices, buoys, gliders and REMUS 600s.

4. Standards and metricsWork to establish interagency and scientific community standards andmetrics for data collection, management and analysis. This promotesdata comparability and enables data aggregation from different datasets. It ensures consistent, agreed-upon standards and metrics in order toprovide cost-effective improvements to data and results that can be incor-porated into the environmental compliance process. Projects in this areacan include standards for data collection methods, standardized datamanagement tools, and new metrics for reporting performance of dataanalysis methods.

5. Emergent topicsThis investment area is reserved for other priority topics needed by theNavy that may come up and do not fall within the preceding topics.

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